Wishes
by Kairuthefrog
Summary: How Aang chosses to spend his thirteenth birthday. Companion story to Hormones. Kataangcentric. Now multi chapter. final chapter up... contains concentrated fluff.
1. Birthday Wishes

_Compnaion to chap. 4 of Hormones._

Wishes

He stood up and addressed them. Okay, so maybe he shouted enthusiastically. "Today's my thirteenth birthday!" he yelled happily.

Katara snapped out of her daze. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? We're not prepared at all."

Aang frowned slightly. "I'm telling you now aren't I? Besides, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Technically, Aang, it's your hundred and thirteenth birthday." Sokka added, a rare childish smile appearing.

"Oh." said Aang, slightly daunted. "I'm really old aren't I?"

Sokka laughed. Aang brightened. "That my friend, you are."

"So, wadaya wanna do, Twinkle Toes?" Toph questioned. "It's your birthday, you should at least get to do something special."

Aang paused. "Well… there's supposed to be a really spectacular waterfall around here. I'd like to jump off it." He said with a hopeful smile. "Lot's of people make wishes on it. You know, throw your coin down."

Katara smiled. "Consider it done. Why do you want to jump off, Aang?"

Aang's smile faltered a bit. "Well… at the temple where I used to live, we always went cliff diving on birthdays. It was like an unofficial tradition." He paused then added, "Also, it's an amazing freefall through mist and rainbows and well… it's kinda how I make a wish."

Katara frowned a bit. "What do you mean Aang?"

He was blushing faintly. "Well, on the way down I make a wish."

"Why would you do that?" Sokka asked rudely.

"I'm not sure." He replied. "I just remember the time before, on my way down, I made a wish. And it came true." He added, almost under his breath.

"Really?" Sokka asked, interested. "What did you wish for?"

Aang paused, then, looking at the ground, replied: "Well, it was after the monks told me I was the avatar, and when the other boys wouldn't play with me anymore. Monk Gyatso said I could take Appa on an extended trip."

"By yourself?" Katara asked, surprised.

Aang nodded. "You forget. This was before the war, so it was safe for one kid to travel by himself around the nations." He paused. "Well, maybe not 'safe' exactly, but safe enough for a kid who knew his bending well."

"How is this related to your wish?" Sokka asked.

"It's what led up to my wish. Anyways," he continued in a quiet voice, "I stopped at this waterfall, and decided to jump off it."

Sokka snorted. That sounded like Aang, just deciding to randomly jump off a waterfall.

"It was incredible, almost magical, the free fall." He looked around at us. "Have any of you ever gone cliff diving?"

They shook their heads. "Of course not, silly." Katara chided gently. "We wouldn't have a way to survive the fall."

"Oh. Right. Well, anyway, on the way down I made a wish."

Sokka nodded. "And?"

"And what?"

"What did you wish for?"

"Oh yeah." He looked at the ground again, turning over a bit of dirt with his toe. You could tell he was a little uncomfortable. "I wished for friends." He finally muttered under his breath. "Friends who wouldn't mind me being the avatar, who would treat me like a person and not an incarnation. Who would like me for me."

"Did it come true?"

Aang smiled and nodded. "I met Bumi. And Kuzan. Kuzan was from the fire nation. After that I came back to the temple. I left again and got caught in that storm that ended up with me in the ice burg." His smile broadened. "Then I met you guys."

"Huh."

Katara smiled. "So where is this water fall exactly?"

Later at the Waterfall

Aang gestured grandly over the waterfall. "Here we are!"

It truly was a grand waterfall, with the water falling from a steep cliff, and disappearing into a hazy mist with rainbows gleaming through it hazily. _(A/N: Just imagine Niagara Falls with a lot more mist and rainbows) _

"Wow," Katara murmured softly.

Even Sokka looked mildly impressed.

Toph looked rather indifferent. She shrugged. "I'll have t take your guys' word for it. I sense a cliff with water on it, and an edge, but that's about all I got."

Aang looked a bit put off for a moment, before asking "Who wants to jump off it with me?"

Katara brightened. "I'd love to!" She gushed.

Toph shrugged again. "I'd rather keep my feet on the ground. The whole 'free fall through misty rainbow paradise' effect is kinda lost if you can't see it."

Sokka just shook his head, looking faintly green.

"I guess it's just you and me then, Katara." He tried to ignore the way his heart jumped into overtime when he said that.

She just nodded, and walked over to the edge with him.

She paused, obviously a little nervous. "So how does this work, exactly?"

Aang smiled. "We jump off the cliff, and I'll create an air cushion right before we hit the bottom."

"Right. How are we going to get back up?"

"I'll bring my glider and fly us back up."

"Okay."

"Come on, then." He offered his hand to her.

Katara paused, staring at his hand. He was asking her to put her trust in him, to entrust her life in his hands. She barely hesitated.

They walked together, still holding hands, to the edge of the cliff.

Aang blushed slightly, as did Katara. It's funny, how they could make something as simple as holding hands awkward. (Remarked the author)

"On the count of three?"

She nodded.

"One."

"Two."

He paused, seeing the hesitation on her face, his eyes met hers, and he offered the most comforting smile he could.

"Three."

They jumped, and Aang propelled them away from the cliff face, before they began the plummet.

Within a few seconds, they had been enveloped by mist.

"Make a wish!" Aang yelled to Katara, trying to be heard over the roaring of the wind in their ears.

Katara closed her eyes. The whole experience was utterly terrifying, but oddly exhilarating. She clutched at the hand still holding hers. It griped back gently, comforting, and his other hand found hers. She felt herself pulled into a strange, free falling hug. Aang must have been stabilizing their flight, because they weren't spinning out of control.

"It's okay." He muttered in her ear. "I'm here."

She smiled, and managed to crack open her eyes. She was met with a wonderful picture of Aang's smiling face, surrounded by mist and rainbows. _'I wish I could wake up and see that face every day…'_

Aang smiled back at her. _"I wish I…'_

Katara shivered lightly, noticing she was soaked through. Aang pulled her a little closer. She blushed, but cuddled into the warmth. The fog was thinning out, and the river was approaching fast.

Aang turned them so that they were right side up, and began to slow their descent. He stopped them right before they hit the water, hovering with Katara easily.

_(A/N: that was one heck of a fall)_

Aang released her from the hug, keeping hold of her hands. He twirled them around a bit, dancing his feet lightly on the surface of the water.

Katara gasped lightly. She felt completely weightless, and at ease, not in the least bit concerned that she was floating over a fast moving river at the bottom of a waterfall, focusing instead upon the boy before her.

He grinned at her, before arranging his hands in a manor more suitable for dancing. _(A/N: Hand on the waist, hand in hand)_ "May I have this dance?"

She smiled slightly and bit her lip. "I don't know how to dance."

He smiled. "It's okay. I don't know too well either. Air dancing isn't my strongest point. I just know the basics."

She smiled. "Then you may, I suppose."

His grin widened, and he floated them back up into the mist, back amongst the rainbows. The ground disappeared, and they were once again in a fantasyland, where nothing seemed too real.

They dipped and spun through the mist, forgetting how cold they were in favor of how close they were to the other. They danced, weaving their way through the mist, forgetting about everything outside of their world of rainbows and feelings.

Sokka

Sokka stormed around. "What's taking them so long?"

Toph shrugged. "Maybe they died."

Sokka paled. "You think so?"

"No."

Happy Land

In the course of their dance, the two had ended up much closer than they had originally intended, but neither truly cared at that point.

Aang smiled lightly, and wrapped his hands around Katara's waist. She did the same to him, and they floated through the mist, gently spinning in circles. Aang could feel himself slowly losing control of what he was doing, but he no longer cared.

Katara had no idea what she was doing, or what he was doing. Her mind had slowed down to the point where only the most basic of processes were functional, like breathing. She would breathe, she would smile, and she would feel. It was enough for her.

Aang rested his forehead against hers, maintaining the eye contact he had held for so long. He stayed quiet, soaking in the intimacy of the motions he was carrying out. He could easily read any emotion that passed through those clear blue eyes right now… there was surprise, and… pleasure?

That, apparently, was enough for whatever being had decided to take over his body. He withdrew his head a little, before pressing his lips to hers.

Katara, on the other hand, still had her brain turned off, and for once, decided not to think about her actions, letting her emotions govern whatever processes her body was carrying out.

She kissed him back.

They stayed locked like that for some time, neither moving. Aang, without noticing, had begun to move them upwards through the mist.

They broke apart, and Aang hovered them gently right under the lip of the cliff.

"What did you wish for?" she asked quietly.

"Something I wanted for a long time, that has finally come true."

With that, he floated them over the edge of the cliff.

"Thanks." He offered. "For coming with me. This was a great birthday."

She just smiled.

'_Thank you for making all my wishes come true."_

Hormones

"Aang we need to have a talk."

"What do we need to talk about Sokka?" I noted how Katara and Toph were suddenly absent from the campsite.

"Not about something. We need to have a _talk._ _The_ talk."

* * *

_I like how this turned out. What do you think?_


	2. The Talk

_Okay… Wishes was so popular with all the reviewers, I decided to continue it. I'll be making this chapter about "The Talk" and I might throw in some introspection from Katara, Aang, or both of them in this chapter or the next, but definitely some from Aang in the next chapter_. _Note that the rating has been bumpted up do to certain content discussed in_ the talk.

_Thank you to all who reviewed!!!!!!_

Wishes

(The Talk)

"We need to have a _talk. The _talk."

Aang kept staring blankly. "A talk…"

"Yeah a _talk_! You know… the birds and the bees?"

Aang kept staring "You want to talk about bugs and birds?"

Sokka blushed faintly. This was _not _going well… it didn't look like anyone had ever told Aang _anything_… He tried again. "You know… where babies come from?"

Sokka, deeply relieved, saw a look of comprehension dawn on the young airbender's face; followed by one of the most brilliant blushes he'd ever seen (at least, the biggest one that wasn't related to Katara in some way, shape, or form).

"Oh… _that_ talk…"

"Yeah… Katara says I'm supposed to tell it to you…"

Aang's face immediately lost all color. "_What_! Do we have to?"

Sokka paused. "It depends on what you know. If you know less than Katara thinks you should, then she'll march us both back here and force us to go over _everything_ with her right there."

Aang immediately blushed again. "Um… I guess I know some things… but do I really have to say it?"

Sokka cracked a smile. "I'm just guessing… but since you seem so reluctant to tell, I'd say you know something of what we're talking about."

Aang just blushed harder and stared at the ground. '_Awkward… I wonder why _Katara_ volunteered me for this…'_

"Well… if you know about _that_, then do you know about puberty?"

Aang shook his head. "Not really…" _'More than I'm willing to admit…'_

So, they spent about fifteen minutes or so talking about puberty, which, though not quite on the same level as _that_, was nonetheless closely related and sufficiently embarrassing.

"And then you get zits, which is one of the real downsides, but hey, you'll probably grow taller, which, if I do say so myself, is something you could use…"

Aang just shook his head. _'Am I going to get a quiz on this?'_

"…And you have to make sure you don't start reeking, which is something girls really don't like in a guy, but you're a clean person so you probably won't smell as bad… and you already know how to shave, so I think you're all set."

"Okay… so we're done?"

"Unless Katara comes back and decides to quiz you…" He said deliberately, knowing the effect it would have on Aang.

"We're done!" He semi-shouted, blushing hard.

"Oh good."

Aang whipped around.

Katara walked out from behind the bushes with Toph, who looked a little shocked.

"I figured that, since you were talking to Aang, I'd clue in Toph. She's a little shocked"

Sokka chuckled. "A little! She looks like she's been slapped in the face!"

Katara glared at Sokka. "At least she's sill standing here! I remember when you got _the talk _you couldn't stand to be in the same room with any human of the opposite sex for a week!"

Aang and Toph both flinched at the mention of the "s" word.

Sokka blushed. "And _you_ were so much better! After dad gave _you_ the talk, all you would do is ask everyone questions, and telling everyone else what you knew! You had those three year olds traumatized for days…"

Katara blushed. "Well… I… their parents will thank me in a few years…"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "_Sure._ After they stop asking what "genitalia" and "sex" are…"

Toph and Aang both flinched and covered their ears at the use of the "g" word and the "s" word in the same sentence…

Katara huffed and tuned away.

Toph paused. "Wait a minute. Did you say your _dad_ gave you _the talk_?"

Sokka smiled. "Yep."

Aang whistled. "Awkward…"

"So how'd your talk go?"

Aang immediately blushed and looked down, scuffing his shoe in the dirt. "Uh… good I guess…" He stole a peek at her through his eyelashes. She looked satisfied.

"What did you talk about?"

_The dreaded question_. He began stammering. "Well we…uh …um… we talked about… stuff?"

She nodded. "You've passed the test. You must have talked about _something_, or you wouldn't have minded telling me…"

Aang just nodded, hoping the question wouldn't come up again.

Sokka walked over to Toph. When he got within five feet of her, she let out a kind of squeal, and lifted a wall between them, which Sokka promptly ran into.

Aang didn't really blame her.

Sokka rubbed his head. "So what did you girls _talk_ about?"

Toph got an evil smile on her face. "Oh you know… sex, periods and-"

But the boys were already gone.

_

* * *

Hah! I like how that turned out!_

_The next chapter is going to have Aang introspection, probably KatAang centric!_

_Thanks for reading!!!_

_-Kairuthefrog_


	3. The Fluff

_Third and final chapter: the fluff (actual chapter title). Going to go over KatAang kisses…still Aang's b-day. I'll be using a kiss that I made up in another story of mine called "Prank."(please read that story too if you haven't already…it's just a short kataang piece)_

_I couldn't just end his b-day with "The Talk." "The Talk" isn't such a great b-day present._

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed, here's the chapter!_

Wishes

(The Fluff)

Aang rolled over.

The day was over, and yet he couldn't sleep. The day hadn't really been that strenuous, but he _was_ tired… and he couldn't stop thinking what had happened.

He had _kissed_ Katara…

And that thought kept him awake.

He sat up, yawning. He had to get it off his mind, or he'd never get to sleep. He walked a little distance away to the stream they had camped by. He air lifted himself onto a handy tree branch, and let himself drift away in thought.

He had had the best day ever, that was for sure.

Well… Sokka had put a bit of a damper on that with the whole "talk" thing. It made talking to Katara awkward… and Toph was completely unapproachable.

Sokka seemed to keep forgetting that, and entered "the danger zone" as Aang had dubbed it, several times in a row, before getting the picture. Toph had set up an invisible boundary around herself, and anyone who entered it was promptly ejected.

Forcefully.

He let his eyes drift over the calm water, recalling how Katara had practiced her bending there just that day… he had neglected joining her do to residual awkwardness from the talk… though the offer had been very tempting.

He wondered when waterbending lessons had stopped being about the water and started being about the teacher. It was certainly a treat to be the student. One-on-one time became the gain, while waterbending was just a bonus.

He palmed his forehead. It was certainly worth watching her. She really was an incredible waterbender, even when she was less than fully dressed.

He felt himself blush.

_Where did that thought come from? I can't go without thinking about her for more than five minutes, and now my mind throws in these little comments…_

_The air dancing was incredible._

It had been. He'd never really danced all that much, it was just one of those things he had picked up. The monks and priestesses from the temples had come together and had festivals, where other airbenders from outside the temples had come… but that was the end of his experience. Dancing in a huge group with someone you didn't know was different than the very personal and very solitary affair he'd had with Katara…

It still gave him shivers, and the memory came back to him clearly, as if it were happening right before his eyes.

_----------Flashback_

"_May I have this dance?"_

_She smiled and bit her lip. "I don't know how to dance."_

_He smiled. "It's okay. I don't know too well either. Air dancing isn't my strongest point. I just know the basics."_

_She smiled. "Then you may, I suppose."_

_He had floated them back up into the mist, and they had danced together through the mist, through the rainbows. Everything had seemed so surreal, and dream-like. Even Katara had looked like some figure out of a dream… though he had always thought her beautiful._

_He had pulled her close to him, and she didn't mind in the slightest. He felt happy…purely happy… and had, for a small amount of time, forgotten that anything existed outside the mist._

_It had felt like he had lost control over his body… and he hadn't cared._

_He remembered resting his forehead against hers, and seeing the spark of what looked like pleasure in her eyes… lighting them up so beautifully._

_Then he had kissed her._

_And she had kissed him back._

_----------End Flashback_

He sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. He remembered what his wish had been… he had wished he could kiss Katara again.

And it had come true very fast.

How many kisses did that make?

There had been that one kiss on the cheek when he returned her necklace. But that was on the cheek and didn't really count.

There had been the kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers… but that had been forced under the circumstances, and had been nothing more than a quick peck; just a very good peck.

There had been that time Toph tricked them into kissing (Prank). That had been much closer to a real kiss… though it had been a trick. Katara and he had held it there for a while…until Sokka started making fun of them. It was a kiss, but they had been tricked into it; no one had actually initiated a _kiss_.

So that made this one the real first kiss.

And she had kissed him back. What did that mean?

Were they still "just friends"?

A soft rustling in the bushes interrupted his train of thought. He warily brought himself into a more alert position, prepared in case an attacker was coming. He doubted it though; with Toph's extra sensitivity she could catch almost anything.

He relaxed, for it was only Katara.

"Hey." She called softly. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nah. You?"

Katara just shook her head. She wasn't about to admit that her thoughts of the air dancing were keeping her awake.

"What are you doing up there?" She asked quietly, not wanting to wake Toph and Sokka. She snorted at the ridiculousness. Nothing would wake those two up, except maybe an earthquake. That would wake up Toph at least.

"Thinking. Want to come up?"

Katara nodded. Aang absently air lifted her onto the branch with him. They both froze for a moment, struck by the memory of that day when Aang had lifted himself and Katara, to dance.

Katara let out a barely audible sigh. Aang caught it though, and wondered briefly.

_Does she want to dance again?_

They sat in silence, enjoying each other's company.

Aang bit his lip, wondering if he should voice his question.

"What did you think of air dancing?"

Katara bit her lip, picking up on the unsaid question. _What did you think of the kiss?_

"It was incredible." She decided, glancing over at Aang to see his reaction.

He had a huge smile on his face.

"Would you…um…like to dance again?"

"Here?"

"Why not?"

"Okay." She said quietly. She knew there was a chance they'd get caught in the moment again… but she didn't mind.

He smiled, and took her hands, floating the two of them to the ground. They walked over to the stream, and began to walk out over the water.

Aang hovered them in place gently, still holding her hands. He rearranged his hands quickly, careful to keep the air supporting her so she wouldn't go plunging into the river.

Once they were prepared, they began to dance.

They started moving slowly over the surface of the water.

The water was like glass, easily reflecting the full moon overhead. It remained smooth as they slowly circled across it.

As they danced slowly across their silver floor, their eyes met. Then neither was aware of the beauty around them.

Aang moved them higher, escalating to match his soaring feelings, for he was not truly thinking about his airbending, letting his instincts and emotions govern what little work needed to be done. He focused instead on the beauty before him, convinced that he would never find another like her, even if he waited another hundred years.

Katara looked down, and gasped. They were floating over twenty feet above the silver stream. She clutched at Aang. He pulled her close, muttering in her ear.

"It's okay. I'm here."

They both recalled the hug from the free fall, and those same words he had spoken then. He slowly began to rotate them, still twenty feet above the water.

Katara closed her eyes. She was out of her element here... and completely immersed in his.

She began to feel more comfortable, and loosened her death grip on him. He smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back. Seeing her smile like that awoke the being within him that had taken over before when they had danced. Before his mind could stop him, he kissed her.

And she kissed back.

At that moment, neither had a wish that could not be made true.

At that moment, neither could love the other more.

* * *

_Sigh…_

_I loved writing that._

_I made up air dancing. I figured since in episode 1-17, "The Northern Air Temple," they called the people 'air walkers,' I figured air 'dancers' wasn't too far off base. I meant to put this bit in chapter one, but I didn't remember until I did the bit for chapter three…_

_Thank you for reading my little multi chapter story._

_Reviews please!_

_-Kairuthefrog_


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